Position of Women 1865-1992

Question 1

Political pre-1900

Answer 1

• Organisations: NAWSA, NWSA, AWSA, WCTU
• Women pursuing Temperance for their husbands.
• Had no political significance, no vote

Question 2

Economic pre-1900

Answer 2

• All women workers low paid, domestic roles
• Had to work 70 hours for $5
• Extreme poverty

Question 3

Social-Cultural pre-1900

Answer 3

• Abortion illegal and dangerous
• Women expected to be married + have large families since no birth control
• Limited childcare opportunities

Question 4

Political - Mid

Answer 4

• Vote 1920, 19th Amendment
• LWV 1920 only 5% of NAWSA join
• Turnout to 1920 election = low

Question 5

Economic - mid

Answer 5

• Return to pre-war roles in 1919
• Married women in workforce in 1920s ^ by 2 million
• Limited positions in Law + Medicine

Question 6

Social-cultural - mid

Answer 6

• 1 million illegal abortions/yr until 1973
• Birth control frowned upon, only given to married women
• Flapper movement 1920s
• 1923 Margaret Sanger 1st legal birth control clinic

Question 7

Political - after 1970

Answer 7

• Radical Feminists using vote
• Equal Rights Amendment passes congress 1972
• Betty Freiden - formed NOW 1966 to press for equality

Question 8

Economic - after 1970

Answer 8

• Credit cards - needed male signatures
• Increase in well-educated wives in the workforce
• Birth Control allows women to join the workforce & choose when they want children

Question 9

Social-cultural - after 1970

Answer 9

• Katherine Switzer - 1st women to run Boston Marathon 1967
• Challenging media’s attitudes towards women
• “The Feminine Mystique” sold 1 million copies

Question 10

Position of women during the Civil War [4]

Answer 10

• Women took charge of households in male absence
• Most men didn’t support a greater political role or social equality for women
• Families remained large & limited use of contraception
• Few opportunities in professional work outside teaching & nursing -> prostitution

Question 11

The campaign for prohibition (Political & Social) [3]

Answer 11

• In 1874 WCTU became a major national organisation
• Gained 800,000 members by 1920
• Leader Frances Willard became a political force getting local areas to ban alcohol sales

Question 12

The campaign for women’s suffrage (Political) [5] (1865-1890)

Answer 12

• Susan B Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed NWSA in 1869
• Merged with AWSA in 1890 to form NAWSA
• As result of NWSA legal challenges: SC allowed local states to allow voting
• Wyoming (1869) Utah (1870) early pioneers of women’s suffrage
• Some women groups saw political participation as reducing womens domestic roles

Question 13

The 19th Amendment (Political) [3]

Answer 13

• War for democracy against German militarism required true democracy at home
• NWSA leader Carrie Chapman Catt campaigned to persuade more states to allow women to vote
• In 1919 19th Amendment was passed, ratified in 1920

Question 14

The New Deal [5] (1929-1945)

Answer 14

• By 1939 there had only been 2 female state governors, both standing in for their husbands
• Effects of 1929 Great Depression-> women expected to give up their jobs
• Frances Perkins was first female cabinet member, Secretary for Labour
• By 1945 there was 254 women elected for state legislatures
• Eleanor Roosevelt was a vocal supporter of womens rights

Question 15

The Second World War [5]

Answer 15

• ‘Rosie the Riveter’ poster -> woman depicted in engineering job
• More women in armed forces, public office, the civil service during WW2
• Women still paid less than men
• Women didn’t participate in any major decision-making
• 2 million women lost their jobs by 1946

Question 16

New Feminism [3] (1960’s)

Answer 16

• Report on American Women of 1963 revealed extent of inequality -> revival of movement
• Betty Friedan condemned a false attitude towards women preventing women from recognising their true abilities
• NOW established in 1966, aimed to end discrimination

Question 17

The Equal Rights Amendment [3]

Answer 17

• From 1970, major campaign to gain a ERA to the Constitution
• Congresswoman Martha Griffith took up measure & succeeded in passing it by both houses & accepted by President Nixon - but wasn’t ratified by 2/3 majority of the states
• Phyllis Schlafly: stressed traditional values & feared women would lose more than they gained from equality

Question 18

Roe v. Wade 1973 [2]

Answer 18

• Court decision led to ban on states imposing abortion limits during first 3 months of pregnancy -> source of conflict ever since
• Significant advances in female awareness & educational opportunities e.g more women in Congress

Question 19

Opposition (Early-1865-1914) [5]

Answer 19

• Many regarded good education as merely a stage in preparation for marriage & motherhood
• Traditional male positions e.g law & medicine difficult to access
• Idea of ‘separate spheres’ still prevalent
• Only a minority of middle class women asserted themselves - to condemn social evils that threatened family
• Only 17,000 NAWSA members nationally by 1905

Question 20

Opposition (Mid 1915-1940) [5]

Answer 20

• Expectations for married women to return home post-WW1
• 1936 Gallup poll suggested 82% Americans opposed to women working
• Politics regarded as too dishonest & disreputable an activity for women
• Majority of married women voted the way their husbands did- little care that the vote empowered them
• W/C women had little time for political interest

Question 21

Opposition (Late 1940-1992) [5]

Answer 21

• By 1969 campaign for ERA had achieved nothing
• Right wing anti-feminist groups portrayed feminists as spinsters & lesbians
• People valuing traditional image of home & family blamed juvenile delinquency on the rising divorce rate (18.2% in 1946)
• Rad Fem supporters of ERA re-thinking their views about equality, ERA didn’t recognise distinctive qualities
• Schlafly alarmed women they could be subject to military service and have to use unisex bathrooms.